death

Story·Anushka Trivedi — A child locked in a room with a menacing broom confronts grief after his mother's death, while his father and sister struggle to reach him.

Story·Callia Rodgers — After her mother dies in childbirth, a girl defies orders to stay out of the forest and discovers she's inherited magical powers to protect it from shadow creatures.

Story·Beatrix Mackil — A man awakens with no memory in a desolate landscape, recovers fragments of his past through visions, and discovers he has been dead for decades.

Personal Narrative·Dante Chowla-Song — After his grandfather's death, a boy finds solace bird-watching in Central Park, where observing cardinals and hawks helps him accept his grief and stop running from loss.

Story·Evangeline Gustavson — A woman nurtures a mysterious seedling that grows into an extraordinary plant, dies, and leaves offspring; after her death, she reunites with the plant's true spirit—a boy.

Personal Narrative·Aisana Zhumabayeva — After their father fails to pick them up from school, two siblings wait in an empty cafeteria until an ambulance arrives to take them to the hospital where they learn...

Story·Lina Yoon — A girl ventures into a frozen forest, falls through river ice where her brother died, and barely survives the journey home through determination and remembered warnings.

Story·Mia Atkinson — A widow, paralyzed by grief for ten years, finds her unfinished embroidery of the night sky and completes it, stitching herself back to wholeness.

Poetry·Emma Catherine Hoff — A woman falls through collapsing stairs, her body fragmenting into surreal objects—banjo, Picasso painting, brooms—while she prays not to be seen or painted.

Story·Emily Chang — A girl navigates family tensions and grief during a lake outing, culminating in an ice cream mishap that leads to an unexpected swim across the lake with her cousin.